The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan. The classical written form is a major regional literary language, particularly for its use in Buddhist literature.

For political reasons, the dialects of U-Tsang otherwise known as central Tibet (including Lhasa), Khams, and Amdo are considered dialects of a single Tibetan language, while Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa, and Ladakhi are generally considered to be separate languages, although their speakers may consider themselves to be ethnically Tibetan. However, this does not reflect linguistic reality: Dzongkha and Sherpa, for example, are closer to Lhasa Tibetan than Khams or Amdo are.

The Tibetan languages are spoken by approximately 6 million plus people. With the worldwide spread of Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan language has spread into the western world and can be found in many Buddhist publications and prayer materials; with some western students learning the language for translation of Tibetan texts. Lhasa Tibetan is spoken by approximately 150,000 exile speakers who have moved from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries. Tibetan is also spoken by groups of ethnic minorities in Tibet who have lived in close proximity to Tibetans for centuries, but nevertheless retain their own languages and cultures. Although some of the Qiangic peoples of Kham are classified by the People's Republic of China as ethnic Tibetans, Qiangic languages are not Tibetan, but rather form their own branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family.

David Michael Curtis (born 10 April 1965 in Salisbury) is a former Irish rugby union international. He also played some first-class cricket while at Oxford University.

Curtis, who was born in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, made his debut for Ireland against Wales in the 1991 Five Nations. He represented Ireland at the World Cup later that year, scoring a try in the pool stage against his country of birth and participating in their losing Quarter Final team. In all he was capped for Ireland on 13 occasions and scored his only other points courtesy of a drop goal in an international friendly against Namibia.

He qualified for Ireland through his father Brian who had also represented his country as a wing forward after the second World War.

His four first-class cricket matches were for Oxford University in 1990, playing against Leicestershire, Glamorgan, Nottinghamshire and Cambridge. A right-handed batsman, he made 89 runs at 22.25.